Thursday, March 29, 2012

Musings On: A Taste of Honey (Stories) by Jabari Asim

A Taste of Honey was
an impulse buy for me. I saw the cover, the title, and that it was a
compilation of short stories and thought, why not? I was expecting the
stories to be stand alone, and I guess they could be if one read them at
random, but to read them in sequence opens the reading experience and
makes the book that much more poignant.

Set during the summer of 1967 in St. Louis, Missouri, A Taste of Honey
begins like a nostalgic tale that your father, uncle or grandfather
would recount to you of their childhood. It's personal, intimate,
reminiscent. Set around the fictional neighborhood of Gateway City, it
includes a cast of characters and their stories. Nine-year-old Crispus
Jones is at the heart of it all. Struggling with being the youngest of
three boys, Crispus can't help but feel lacking, as both his brothers seem
to have gotten all the good looks, charm and bravery. Teased
relentlessly by his handsome brother, Schom, a sensitive Crispus
stumbles through his awkward pre-teen years.

There is
Rose. Her beautiful singing voice can hush the birds twittering and
entrance a whole audience, but behind closed doors she is the victim of
abuse at the hands of her husband. Downtrodden and desperate, Rose is at
her wits end when a blessing comes her way.

Then there
is Roderick aka The Genius. Brilliant and young, Roderick is his
reclusive mothers pride and joy. But being too smart in Gateway City
makes him an outcast and he's picked on by a gang of neighborhood kids
called the Decatur Clan. An unlikely ally helps the head-in-a-book
Roderick realize that there's more to life than just books. Sometimes
friendship can make all the difference.

These are just a few of the stories A Taste of Honey offers. There are more characters to get to know, all with their own stories, each one
as touching as the one before it. They thread together to
create a wistful peek into a time period long gone. Coming in at 205 pages, A Taste of Honey
reads like the title implies; short and sweet. The pages are
filled with easy prose and vivid characters who are all, as Crispus
Jones' mother would say, "going through changes." If you happen upon
this book, don't hesitate to pick it up. You won't regret it.